Hemosiderin. an EPR study of water-insoluble iron in human and rat liver

EPR spectra of the water-insoluble iron fraction, hemosiderin of human and rat liver are described. The homogenate of freshly prepared perfused rat liver shows a non-heme iron signal at g=4.3 and a high-spin heme-iron signal around g=6, whereas the washed and sonicated sample of the insoluble iron fraction shows solely a non-heme iron signal at g=4.3. This indicates that hemosiderin from rat liver does not contain heme iron. Human-liver preparations from post mortem obtained material show in the homogenates as well as in the washed and sonicated samples an intense high-spin heme iron signal at g=6.0 and a non-heme iron signal at g=4.3. A comparative experiment, carried out with "aged" rat liver preparations, reveals the same spectra as with the human preparations. It is concluded that that the heme present in the insoluble iron fraction is caused by degradation of hemoglobin in the obduction material, and that heme is not a constituent of the insoluble depot iron.